The Japanese Daimyo
Feudalism was a time where in the Japanese was subjected to obligatory military service to the king or feudal superior in exchange for proprietorship of a land property. The system was based on the adamant need to have skilled and well equipped military at Japan’s perusal.
The feudal superior provided security, perhaps provisions and occupancy of his land to his subordinates in return for the military services rendered. During the time of feudalism in Japan, the hierarchical structure was dominated by military strength in which they used religion to inspire the armed forces. This gave the samurai the drive to fight for their beliefs.
The hierarchical structure consisted of 2 major classes which were the nobles and the peasants. The nobles made up a small portion of the whole population of these were the emperors and the samurais.
The bigger portion of the population was composed of the farmers, commoners and craftsmen belonging to the peasant class. The order of the hierarchical structure is the emperor, shogun, daimyo, samurai, peasant then the merchant. The peasants on the other hand were also divided into a series of classes of which the farmers as the highest and the merchants the lowest.
The Daimyo which when translated meant “great name”. The Japanese daimyo were considered the influential landholders of feudal Japan. They were usually clothed in purple, ranging from dark to light depending on their rank. Purple was preceded by green, red and then finally black. The highest in rank were already considered nobles.
After the shogun, the daimyos were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th to the 19 century in Japan. During the feudalism era, the daimyos owned lands, built castles and employed warriors, craftsmen, and peasants. Daimyo was also at times used to call the chief figures of such clans, also the term “warlords”.
During this time, the daimyos fought against each other that it was termed the civil war era. This ended when the first of the Tokugawa shoguns (Tokugawa leyasu) defeated his rival warlords and became ruler of Japan. This marked the beginning of the unification of the country and the establishment of a centralized government. However that the daimyos were still present under the Tokugawa shogunate, they remained subordinates to the government in Edo (present day Tokyo).
The daimyos were divided into two groups namely fudai and tozama (inner and outer). Tozama daimyos had a few boundaries such as being unable to hold a post in the shogun’s government while the fudai daimyos took positions in the Edo shogunate. The ownership of the national lands were based on hierarchy and the loyalty of the daimyos to the shogun. Those who were dubious in character and of doubtful loyalty were consigned to the lands far from Edo.
Although the daimyos had certain autonomy within their respective han, they were still subjected to the government rules. They were unable to create coalition in strategically planned weddings, construction of castles and disagreements over succession.
This also was the rise of the realization of the Sankin kotai system which meant “alternate attendance” requiring the daimyos to sustain habitation in Edo. As well as the system of hostages the shogun ensured holding power such as keeping in captive a son of a daimyo with questionable loyalty to the shogun. The shogun never trusted the daimyos as they continuously kept spies to keep track of their activities.
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